DATA RELEASE: Money and Votes on House State and Teacher Funding Bill (HR 1586)

Submitted by Pamela Behrsin on Aug 16, 2010

HOUSE RETURNS FROM RECESS TO SEND TEACHERS TO WORK

BERKELEY, CA, August 10, 2010--The House on Tuesday cleared a spending bill that will send $10 billion to states to employ teachers for the upcoming school year. The bill (HR 1586) passed by a mostly party-line vote of 247 to 161, and President Obama is expected to sign it into law. The bill also includes a six-month funding extension for Medicaid programs totaling $16 billion.

MAPLight.org, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that illuminates the connection between money and politics, found that teachers unions, a group in favor of passage, gave over $3 million in contributions to House members from June 3, 2008 to June 4, 2010, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org). Teachers will see $10 billion in funds channeled to states, a return of over $3,000 for every $1 contributed. On average, House members voting in favor of passage received $11,920 from teachers unions, while House members voting against passage only received $753 on average.

Interest groups in favor of passage include teachers unions, state and local government employee unions, as well as hospitals and drugs stores. Opposition groups include international trade associations and manufacturing interests.

The measure is paid for in part by cutting food stamp programs as well as rewriting tax rules for companies doing business abroad.

Includes reported contributions to congressional campaigns of House members in office on day of vote, from Teachers unions interest groups, June 4, 2008 – June 3, 2010. Contributions data source: OpenSecrets.org

Producer/Editor's note: Daniel Newman, MAPLight.org's executive director, is available for interviews. Please contact: Pamela Heisey, 415.299.0898 or pamela@maplight.org. Video of Mr. Newman can be found here.

About MAPLight.org:MAPLight.orgis a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization based in Berkeley, California. Its mission is to illuminate the connection between Money and Politics (MAP) using our groundbreaking database of campaign contributions and legislative votes. MAPLight.org combines data from the Federal Election Commission, the Center for Responsive Politics, GovTrack.us, the National Institute on Money in State Politics (NIMSP), the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and other sources to better inform Americans and local and national media about the role of special-interest money in our political system.

MAPLight.org has received numerous awards including a Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism; a James Madison Freedom of Information Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter and a Webby nomination for best Politics website. To learn more, please visit: MAPLight.org. If our work has been helpful to you, please consider supporting us.

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About our data

Read the details about our data sources and methodology. Data refers to direct contributions to the campaign committees of elected legislators. For example, contribution totals exclude contributions to party committees such as the RNC or the DNC and exclude contributions made to individuals that did not win their election.

For U.S. Congress, contributions data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics (OpenSecrets.org) and legislative data provided by GovTrack.us.

California contributions data provided by the National Institute on Money in State Politics (FollowTheMoney.org).